From the team behind Blackbird and avec comes this homage to beer, pork, and fish. Executive Chef Paul Kahan and Chef de Cuisine Dennis Bernard have developed a network of purveyors to supply the restaurant with hand-selected, sustainably-harvested fish and seafood as well as sustainably-raised heirloom pork to anchor a rustic menu of simple, eclectic fare. The extensive international beer list, developed by partners Eduard Seitan and Terry Alexander and now Beer Director Adam Vavrick, features 100 or so ales, lagers, stouts and ciders by the bottle, 12 of those available on tap. Like Blackbird and avec, The Publican is a design partnership from the James Beard Award-winning team of Thomas Schlesser and partner Donnie Madia.

What Insiders Are Saying

The Infatuation

8.6

The Publican is a Medieval styled mecca of all things beer, pork, and oysters. If that's not appealing, you can't sit with us.

Ratings 8.5-9.0:Now we’re in the range of absolutely excellent restaurants that you might go to more than once a year/lifetime. These restaurants tend to define a city, and make up the places that you absolutely cannot miss if you want to have any credibility as a restaurant-informed person in a major metropolis.

Great menu and assortment of drinks. Items are mostly small plates for sharing and modestly portioned. Server suggested guests typically order “9 items for every 3 people”. This 6 of us in our party were amused at the notion of ordering 18 different plates for passing.

Great ambience, a little noisy. Would definitely return but don’t bring huge appetite.

I live in Greenwood, IN and every time I come to Chicago and hightail it to the Publican. Great food, knowledgable wait staff. If you are in doubt, ask the wait staff for recommendations- they will not steer you wrong.

My husband & I made a reservation for our first anniversary here. The entire staff were so welcoming, even greeting us with a "Happy Anniversary!" as soon as we arrived. The service was great & very quick, and the food was outstanding! They also gave us each a glass of champagne to help us celebrate our anniversary. We did the chef's menu option which was awesome and came with so much food! We both had such a great time.

We had not visited Publican in about 4 years. Our memories may have invited over-expectation. The food was disappointing, the service and ambiance were good. We ordered the gem lettuce- nothing special; white seabass- very small portion, over cooked and falling apart, no flavor; charcuterie plate- sausage was good, rest were bland or too spicy; pork belly was good, best of the dishes and the sirloin was stringy and tough but the flavor was fine. The cocktails, beer and wine were good. Probably wait awhile to go back.

The Publican is everything it is touted to be and MORE. I will highly recommend The Chef's Choice for dinner, especially if you consider yourself a Foodie/Connoisseur. The plates come family style to be shared, which adds to the fellowship. Each dish is as simple and complex at the same time, using sometimes very few fresh ingredients that the Chef works together to build unexpected flavors that excite the palate and please the stomach. The Publican is a must visit whether a local or traveling. You will be happy you came!

Food was great. Portions are small although they are for sharing. The food we ordered were cold plates. If you are looking for warm dishes this may not be good for you. Food was overall on the salty side due to the hams.

The food was very good, the bloody mary I had was great. Typical prices for the location and style of the restaurant, very reasonable. The communal seating style is a bit odd, but definitely not an issue.

Ate at The Publican before Hamilton on Saturday- it blew us out of the water! The Harvest Moon craft cocktail was perfectly balanced and a beautiful way to start the meal! The oysters- so fresh and delicious. Home made bread + sea salt butter, omfg. Pork belly literally melt in our mouth, and did I mention the homemade crispy pork rinds?! Our server was a gem, and got us in and out with plenty of time to see the show! Grateful for a wonderful experience.

I ordered a pork chop entree. One of them was very sinewy and tough.We ordered a cauliflower and a sweet potato dish for sharing. If you like a vegetable dish that doesn't taste anything like the vegetable this place might be for you.

My problem was the ambience. Communal tables - good for a group but bad if you are a couple sitting next to that group. More two tops. But it’s the NOISE. Lots of noise is supposed to create “buzz” but have you ever asked your customers if they would like to talk in a normal voice, rather than screaming. You might be surprised that your current customers and new ones would prefer an “adult” restaurant.

Perhaps they were having an off night because we've heard so much about this place, but in our experience it was not worth the price. The Charcuterie was too fatty and all tasted exactly the same, the wine was average and served in juice glasses, and the rest of the food was just okay. The service was fine. The music selection was fantastic but wayyyy too loud... We could barely hear each other at the table. I'd try it again, but not soon.

In celebrating our anniversary we decided to do the tasting menu. The Publican being known for its meat, I expected to have at least a couple of meat dishes. There was 1 dish that was supposed to be the Porchetta but it consisted of just 2 pcs of bacon. $65 pp for veggies at a meat restaurant. I contacted the restaurant to see if there was a mix up if we received some sort of vegetarian menu instead, however, received no response. The service was great, however, not worth the price and when requesting a meat tasting menu, I expect a couple of the 7 meat dishes featured on their menu. Friends have done the tasting menu and raved about it. Not sure if it was an off night, but at $65 pp, that range of an off night should not occur.